1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of non-lethal electrical discharge weapons of the type wherein a pair of electrode tethered darts are propelled toward a remote target to impart a current through the target to temporarily disable the target for capture. The invention relates more specifically to a propulsion assembly for such weapons wherein a small sealed tank holding compressed gas is penetrated at the precise center of an axial surface by a conical penetrator in response to ignition of a pyrotechnic charge.
2. Background Art
The present invention is not the first to incorporate the concept of penetrating a tank of compressed gas to propel electrode darts in an electrical discharge weapon commonly referred to as a Taser. Such devices can help meet or avoid certain regulations and restrictions on weapons which employ ignition of pyrotechnic material more directly as the actual propulsion force. This distinction resides in the use instead of the suddenly released compressed gas as the actual propulsion source and not the more direct pressure from the ignition of the pyrotechnic. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,078,117 to Cover and 5,786,546 to Simpson, both disclose such devices. Cover's device is rather simple and employs a channeled pin to penetrate the compressed gas container. This approach is fine for one electrode projectile, but does not lend itself to propelling a pair of darts as is done in the present invention. Simpson discloses a configuration which is used for propelling two darts simultaneously. Unfortunately Simpson's disclosure shows a configuration in which the released gas has to fill an entire cartridge interior in order to propel both darts. Such a design suffers from a reduced propulsion efficiency because of the large volume that needs filling in order to build up the internal pressure sufficient to force the darts out of the cartridge with some sufficient level of initial acceleration to reach a remote target. A second potential difficulty is the lack of symmetry in the relation of the darts and the tank of compressed gas which can cause initial instantaneous differences in pressure levels at the two darts which can interfere with dart accuracy and timing. The present invention comprises a compressed gas dart propulsion system which overcomes these deficiencies of the most relevant prior art.